


A Fireside Chat

by Settiai



Series: The Land of Ravens [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Family, Friendship, Gen, Religion, Reminiscing, Sex Talk, Siblings, Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, The Land of Ravens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 09:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16678969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Ceres had to admit thatGwaewalking over to have a chat with her beside the campfire wasn't something she'd seen coming. But who was she to turn down free alcohol?





	A Fireside Chat

Ceres glanced up from the dagger she was cleaning at the sound of fairly loud footsteps heading in her direction. Gwae was walking towards her, a bottle of something alcoholic in one of her hands.

She'd lost most of her armor, and she probably should have looked smaller without it. The aasimar still cut an impressive figure, though, despite being a fair bit shorter than several members of the group – Ceres included. She had some decent muscles on her and her blue hair, which was usually striking on its own, seemed to be almost glowing in the firelight.

Gwae apparently noticed that she'd caught Ceres's attention, and she nodded as she came closer. "Mind if I join you for a bit?" she asked, holding out the bottle in her hand out towards Ceres.

Ceres raised her eyebrows, but she wasn't going to turn down a drink if Gwae was offering one. "Sure," she said with a nod. "Have a seat."

Without another word, Gwae dropped down beside her and took a decent-sized swig from the bottle in her hand. Then she offered it to Ceres.

Ceres shrugged and took it.

Taking a large sip herself, Ceres kept her gaze focused on Gwae. The paladin didn't usually go out of her way to talk with her, so there had to be something a bit out of the ordinary on her mind.

They sat there in silence for a moment, both of them passing the bottle back and forth. Then Gwae met Ceres's gaze.

"I've been wondering ever since we raided that drow camp," Gwae said curiously, "what that snake statue you recognized was?"

Ceres went still. That... wasn't what she'd been expecting to be asked. Questions about everything that had gone down in Lyrengorn, maybe, both recently and a decade earlier. Maybe some curious queries about Maya. But not ones about ancient statues to an almost forgotten god.

Gwae shifted a bit. "You seemed to know exactly what it was," she continued, pressing onward, "and what it meant. But I've never seen anything like it before, and it's been in the back of my mind since."

Ceres took another sip of the drink they were sharing, studying Gwae for a moment. The paladin was surprisingly unreligious for someone of her calling, at least from Ceres's somewhat limited experience with others of her type. Still, she'd never known it to bother Gwae that she didn't know that much about the gods.

Not until now.

"I didn't know exactly what it was," Ceres said, shifting a bit. "But when I see snake iconography like that, especially somewhere so old..." She trailed off and gave a half-shrug. "My mind couldn't help but go to the Cloaked Serpent. It just made sense."

Gwae stared at her blankly.

"I don't know a lot," Ceres offered. "Just stories that I heard as a kid."

"I don't think I've heard of the Cloaked Serpent before," Gwae says, tipping her head towards the sky in thought. "I wasn't the best student, but that doesn't ring any god-like bells."

Ceres frowned. "I really don't know a lot," she said. "Just... stories of death and darkness. He was one of the Betrayer gods."

Both of Gwae's eyebrows rose. "Oh! That would definitely explain why it's unfamiliar," she said, dropping her gaze back down towards Ceres. "We weren't told much about them as kids, and I never looked into more."

She took another sip from the bottle, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. "But you heard stories?" she asked. "Do you remember any of them? Or is it more just general badness and destruction?"

"Just general badness and destruction," Ceres said. "He hated the Wildmother. That's really the only reason I've heard of Him."

"The Wildmother?" Gwae repeated. "Is that the, uh—" She tipped her head vaguely in the direction of Ceres's chest. "—deity of your pendant?"

Ceres blinked and glanced down. She hadn't even noticed that she was openly wearing her pendant instead of keeping it tucked safely under her armor like she usually did. The curved shell was almost glowing in the firelight, and the blue swirl painted on it almost seemed to be moving like the waves of the sea.

"Yes," she said a bit awkwardly, reaching up to tuck it back under her armor. "The Wildmother. Melora."

Something that looked a lot like relief spread across Gwae's face. " _That's_ a name I recognize," she said, offering the bottle once more. "I take it this serpent ass was Her least favorite?"

Ceres couldn't help but smirk at that particular phrasing. "They weren't exactly fond of each other, no. At least, not that my mother ever mentioned in her stories."

Well, shit. She hadn't meant for _that_ to slip out. Ceres grimaced, gladly taking the bottle that Gwae was offering her and taking another sip.

Gwae sighed. "At least your mother told you stories," she said a bit wistfully. "I can't recall mine ever doing it."

Ceres went still. Gwae didn't sound particularly upset about it, but there was still something in her voice that made Ceres think there was more to that story than she wanted to ask about just then. But at the same time, she didn't want to leave their conversation ending on that note.

Oh, well. In for a copper.

"My parents both worshipped Melora," Ceres said quietly. She didn't think any of the others were around, but she knew Eryth and Shema were both good at hearing things that others might prefer to not be overheard at least. "They wanted to make certain I at least knew who She was, even if they realized pretty early on that I wouldn't be following in their footsteps."

Gwae eyed her. "You may not have followed, but you still wear that pendant. Clearly something they said stuck." She shook her head. "I'm not sure if either of my parents believe anything. If they do, they never talked it about it, at least not with me."

Ceres gave her a shrug and a half-smile. "Maybe something they said stuck," she said. "Or maybe it's just a reminder of where I came from. Either's a possibility."

Gwae snorted and raised the bottle in agreement before taking another sip.

If it had been just a few weeks earlier, Ceres probably would have stopped there. She would have let the conversation drop, and that would have been that. But, well, a lot of things had happened in Lyrengorn and on the road since they'd left the city.

"I take it you're not exactly close to your parents?" Ceres asked, keeping her voice low.

Gwae gave her a smile, even as she sighed. "Not particularly. I spent more time with my gran than either of them growing up. They were busy, and Gran wasn't anymore. Besides, they had all my siblings to look after, too."

Ceres couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at that. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Five," Gwae said. "All older."

"Huh." Ceres glanced up at the sky for a moment, smiling despite herself at the sight of a familiar constellation, before looking back towards Gwae. "I was an only child." She paused. It was true, from her perspective at least, but then again... "Well, mostly."

Gwae gave her a slightly confused look. "How is one _mostly_ an only child?"

Ceres gave her a weak shrug in return. "My parents had a daughter. She died before I was born." She pointedly didn't add: _and I was always in her shadow, even though I never knew her._ No matter how much she might have been tempted to do so.

There was a long pause. "Oh." Gwae took another sip before saying with a sigh: "That sucks."

"Life often does," Ceres said, holding out her hand for the bottle. "That said, she was never anything more than a story to me." She clenched her fists before adding, in a tone that was a bit more bitter than she'd intended: "A ghost of what might have been that seemed to always be hanging over my shoulders."

Gwae handed over the bottle. "And I thought living up to my actual siblings was hard," she said. "I can't imagine having to live up to someone that never got to be."

Ceres gave her another half-hearted shrug before taking a decent swig from the bottle. "Let's just say there's a reason that I left home and didn't look back."

"That's a pretty good reason." Gwae paused, clearly debating in her mind for a moment before continuing: "Have you stayed in contact with them at all?"

Ceres glanced at her, hesitating for a moment. What would it hurt? She'd already said more than she'd intended. "I send money sometimes," she said with a nod. "The very occasional letter. But I haven't seen them in person since I left home."

Gwae smiled and looked up at the sky again. "That's nice," she said. "I haven't seen my parents since I left home either."

Ceres glanced up as well, her eyes immediately seeking out constellations again. She didn't say anything. She just let the two of them drift into a companionable silence.

After a good minute or two, Gwae looked over at Ceres quickly before looking back at the sky. She'd clearly not intended Ceres to notice it. "Can I ask you something?" she asked, not looking at Ceres. "Something kinda... personal?"

“Sure,” Ceres agreed. Then she smirked, just slightly, as she glanced over at Gwae. “I’m not promising an answer,” she pointed out, “but you can ask.”

Gwae gave a gentle huff of laughter. Then she scooted a bit nearer to Ceres, dropping her voice a little bit more. "This is kinda of awkward, but I'm curious and feel like you might answer without it getting weird." She took a deep breath. "What's sex like?"

Ceres's eyebrows went up.

Gwae blushed and scooted even closer. "If it's too personal you don't have to answer. I'm just... well, I'm just so curious." Her words were getting faster, not quite tripping over themselves but well on their way there. "I know about it from a schooling perspective, but I don't have any actual interest in sex. But I'm curious what it’s like for those who do have an interest."

Ceres tilted her head, studying Gwae for a moment.

Gwae didn't notice. "Any time I've tried to ask before, I'm either laughed at, or offered a 'practical example,'" she said, adding actual finger quotes around the last two words. Then she went quiet.

Ceres sat there for a moment, trying to sort through her thoughts and come up with something that wasn't going to be too horrifying considering her sex life for the last ten years or so had mostly involved money changing hands.

"Sex is a lot of things," she said slowly. "It depends on the situation and the people involved. It can be relaxing or exhilarating. A moment of fun or a job. Something you want to last forever, or something that you wish was over almost as soon as it began."

Gwae nodded seriously.

Ceres gives another shrug. "It's been all of those things for me, and a million others as well. It's different every time, with every partner.” She paused and added, a bit wryly: "Or partners."

Gwae was still nodding, clearly listening to what she was saying. Ceres just hoped she wasn't fucking it up too much.

"It's different for everyone, I think," she said. "At least, that's what I get from what I've seen over the years."

Gwae gave another nod. "Thank you," she said softly. "That's more than anyone else has ever told me."

"I'm probably the worst person to ask," Ceres said a bit sheepishly. "I'm honestly mostly interested in the orgasms."

Gwae laughed. "I've heard they can be... _pleasant_."

Ceres winked at her. "Oh, that's definitely one word for it."

"I'll keep that in mind." With a smile, Gwae stood up and stretched. "It's late. I think I'll head off to bed. Thank you for this... _enlightening_ chat."

Although her tone was light, Ceres could hear the hint of seriousness buried underneath it. She was the last person to call Gwae out on that, though.

"Thanks for the drink," Ceres shot back with a wink, holding the mostly empty bottle out towards her.

Gwae returned the wink before grabbing the bottle. "Any time," she said. "Goodnight!"

Ceres watched quietly as Gwae wandered off towards the other side of the camp. Her hand went up to touch the pendant around her neck for just a moment. She sighed. Then, without saying a word, she reached down to pick up her discarded dagger.

It wasn't going to clean itself.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)


End file.
